The Central Europe is the area of the Europe located between the Europe of the East and the Western Europe. It represents an historical center of Europe not to be confused with the geographical Center of Europe which is located halfway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural Mountains (some share in Lithuania).

The definition is vague, historically, the Mitteleuropa (median Europe) gathers the central Empires which are the German Empire and the Empire Austro-Hungarian (to which one adds sometimes the Suisse and the northern part of the Italy which was under Austrian domination). The Cold war redrawing the geostrategic borders of Europe and placing at the West Austria and most of Germany, one tends sometimes to exclude these two countries from the center-European definition. It is not impossible that with the integration of the new entrants in the European Union the old definition takes again the top.

The countries generally considered as belonging to the Central Europe are:

• Germany;
• Austria;
• Hungary;
• Poland;
• ;
• Slovakia;
• .

The Croatia is also regarded it as a Central European country, even if it is considered Balkan or of Europe of the South.

Actually, two areas, the Croatian Slavonia and the Voïvodine Serbe are historically in Central Europe. Croatia and the Serbia would be thus partially in Central Europe.

The area Alsace is also sometimes regarded as pertaining to the Central Europe.

The Romania is in the carpato-Danubian area, and she is often considered, in a coarse way, as Balkan (Balkans stop in the Danube with more), but the Transylvania is historically related to the Central Europe.

The North-West of the Ukraine and the extreme west of the Bélarus and the Lithuania are sometimes compared to the Central Europe, for reasons of religious proximity (catholic prevalence of the worships and uniate), cultural and historical (these territories were formerly included in the borders of the Empire Austro-Hungarian then of the Poland).

All these countries belong to PECO (Central and Eastern Europe), except for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

See too

• Political of Europe
• Geography of Europe

External bond

• Europecentrale.org - Site of researchers into science-human on the Central Europe

Be-X-old: ЦэнтральнаяЭўропа Nds-nl: Centraol-Europa Simple: Exchange Europe